Love or Hate, The Strawberry?
by Spiritueux
Summary: A Ryou x Ichigo love & friendship story. Poor Masaya, but who cares? He is boring anyway. Minor pairing Pudding x Taru. Rating might go up, but yeah. Pretty pretty please review. This is my first story after all n.n
1. Such a Baka

~Chapter 1~

.:Such a Baka:.

_*BEEP BEEP BEEP*_

The dreaded noise that sounded the start of each day; Ichigo thumped her alarm clock hard with her small fist. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned, fliped the sheets off of her petite body, and staggered of into her bathroom to take a fresh shower. Soon she returned, she dried and brushed her strawberry locks, did her usual do' and pulled on a white T-shirt with a short skirt and her everyday tennis shoes with high frilly socks. Today was a work day, AND SHE WAS LATE AGAIN! "EEEEEP" She squealed and raced downstairs "MOM, DAD, I'M LEAVING" and took off out the door, not waiting for a reply. "Shirogane is going to KILL me!" She sprinted down the streets leaving a cloud of dust behind her.

After a good 10 minutes of running, she finally reached Café Mew Mew. "Alright," she sighed, wiping a bead of sweat from her now rosy cheeks. "Now…." She leaned against the pastel wall the bordered the Café , took a few moments to catch her breath, it was an incredibly hot summer day, she looked at her watch… 30 minutes late."Oh jeez… I'M DEAD!But wait a minute..Hmmmm… Maybe I could possibly slip past Shirogane and not get in trouble" She snickered to herself *stealth mode activated*. Ichigo slipped around the wall to the back door of the café that was rarely used. She slowly placed her hand on the doorknob, and ever so gently turned the knob and pushed the door open. Ichigo scuttled inside and shut the door quietly and tip-toed to the locker rooms.

"Hmmm, strawberry, nice of you to show up,"

"EEEEKKKK!" She screamed. Ichigo sweat-dropped…. Shirogane…. She was caught. The cool figure leaning against the wall swept his long blonde hair out of his aqua- blue eyes and glared down at small Ichigo.

"I…Ummm, WAIT A MINUTE MISTER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE GIRLS CHANGING ROOM!"

"What are you doing 30 minutes late to work, again?" He said coldly. Ichigo looked at her feet, and shifted around.

"Ummmm-" Ryou tapped his foot impatiently.

"I'm docking your pay, baka, now hurry up and get dressed," Ryou flicked Ichigo's nose and pushed the door open to exit the locker room.

"ICHIGO, TABLE 4 NEEDS MORE BANANA BERRY TARTS!"

"ICHIGO! BRING THIS LEMON PIE TO TABLE 6"

"CLEAN UP OVER HERE, ICHIGO!"

"IGHIGO HURRY OVER HERE!"

"IGHIGO WHERE'S MY ORDER!"

"ICHIGOO?"

"ICHIGO!"

Ichigo raced back and forth between tables and the kitchen, panting. "_My god I've must've already ran a mile in here!_" She said quietly to herself, wiping her now damp forehead. Ichigo went into the kitchen and saw Keiichiro completing the icing on a small pink cake. For a guy, he was pretty good at making girly little pastries. "Oh Momomiya-chan, may I ask a small favor of you?" He looked up at her warmly. Ichigo nodded and blushed at Keiichiro's politeness. "Could you please go to the supply closet in the basement and get a box of the rainbow sprinkles for me?" He half smiled one of his adorable smiles at her. Ichigo blushed again and muttered a quick "Hai" before she bounced off out of the kitchen and started off towards the basement, when she ran straight into a blonde certain someone.

"Ouch, Yo baka, you should really start watching where you're going" Said Shirogane in an annoyed tone, scratching his blonde head.

"MAYBE YOU SHOULD WATCH WHERE _YOU'RE _GOING! AND I'M NOT A BAKA!" Ichigo punched him hard in the arm, and it surprisingly did sting quite a bit.

"What are you doing in the hall anyway, baka? Didn't I tell you tha-"

"I'M COMPLETING AN IMPORTANT TASK FOR KEIICHIRO-SAN, NOW WOULD YOU PLEASE MOVE OUT OF MY WAY SHIROGANE!" Ryou felt a tinge of annoyance and shook it off.

"PFFFT! You and what army!"

Ichigo stamped down hard on his foot.

"YOW! BAKA!"

Ryou grunted and hobbled aside from Ichigo and eyed her suspiciously as she flicked her strawberry locks away from him and stomped halfway down the shiny, white hallway. Then she turned around and stuck her tongue out at him, and pulled down her eyelid. She giggled and turned once again, finished, and continued down the hall; Her sneakers squeaking on the polished hallway. Ryou watched her go, and smiled a small smile.

"GOD! SHIROGANE IS SUCH A HUGE JERK!" She stomped down each stair into the basement *CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK* "One day…*CLUNK* I swear…. *CLUNK* I'M GOING TO GIVE HIM A PIECE OF MY MIND!" Ichigo reached the floor of the basement and felt around for a light-switch, she found the smooth plastic knob and flicked it on, light filling the basement. The basement was really big, it held some spare tables and chairs for the café, and lots of random things. "Hmmm… Supply closet" She walked over to the door and opened it, and walked into the fairly large room, different pastel boxes lined up and stacked high against the grey walls of the closet. "Rainbow sprinkles…." She scanned the room and found the surprisingly large sprinkle box. She struggled to pick it up. "EEERRGGH, This is actually quite heavy…." She sat it down and took in a few deep breaths, and picked it up once more, only to drop it again. "WHAT IN THE HE-HOW MANY FRIGGIN' SPRINKLES ARE IN HERE?NYAAAA" Her cat ears and tail popped out in anger.

"Need some help baka-strawberry?" Ichigo squealed and turned around to see a smirking Ryou leaning against the wall, legs crossed, hands in his white-jean pockets.

"NO! I MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT! ….Wait a minute, Shirogane! ARE YOU STALKING ME!" Ichigo eyed him cautiously, scratching her head.

"Nah, your baka mumblings to yourself just actually amuse me quite a bit" He smirked.

"I AM _NOT_ A BAKA!" Ichigo huffed and picked up the sprinkle box and walked a few steps, sticking her small pink tongue out at Ryou. *CLANK* "YOOOOWWW! NYYYAAA!" She grabbed her foot and jumped up and down in pain.

"PPPFFFFFTTTT! Want that help now?" Ryou chuckled, _Baka-strawberry_. Ichigo gave him a death glare, and then sighed, she was defeated. Ryou bent down beside Ichigo and lifted up the box "You really need to be more careful" he looked deep down into her big, sparkling dark eyes for a moment, his oceany-blue eyes full of concern, then he turned away from her. Ichigo blushed deeply, and touched her cheek with her hand. _Since when has Shirogane actually cared about me? _Ryou flipped around, pointed a slim finger at her and winked "Yeah, I don't want any of these supplies getting ruined, after all!"

"UGH!" Ichigo smacked her palm against her forehead. _I'm such an idiot sometimes! _ They both continued upstairs into Keiichiro's kitchen, and Ryou placed the box down on the table with a small thud.

"Thank you very much Momomiya-chan!-Or uhh, Ryou?" Keiichiro looked him over, a bit confused for a moment. Ryou rolled his eyes at his dark-headed friend.

"Baka strawberry over here nearly killed herself in the basement trying to pick up the box" Ryou grinned at Ichigo.

"NYYYAAA! IT WAS EXTREMELY HEAVY JUST FOR A BOX OF SPRINKLES!" Ichigo yelled.

"Well Ichigo, It is a half year supply of it after-all!" Keii said smiling a warm smile at her. She blushed.

"If ONLY certain people were as nice as you Keii-san!" Ichigo glared at Ryou.

"Now, Now, let's calm down and get back to work… There will be a nice sweet surprise in it for you Ichigo!" Keiichiro patted her strawberry head.

"Yeah back to work baka!" Ryou said, seemingly more annoyed than usual. "…BEFORE I DOCK YOUR PAY EVEN FURTHER!"

"UGH SHIROGANE YOU'RE SUCH A JERK!" Ichigo stomped out of the kitchen, giving him a mean look before she turned the corner.

"…..You know you don't really have to be so harsh on the poor girl, Ryou,"

" You don't have to be so nice to her either!" Ryou glared at him.

"Is that a tinge of jealousy I'm sensing?" Keii smirked at him.

"NO! SHE'S JUST SUCH A MORON! I CAN HARDLY STAND IT!"

"Hmmmm, interesting…" He grinned before returning to his cakes.

"What is that supposed to mean!"

"Whatever you wish it to mean, Ryou-kun" Ryou walked out of the kitchen timidly. Keiichiro sighed and mumbled to himself "They really are more alike than they know it," He smiled.

NEXT CHAPTER:

~Ichigo shows up to work not looking like her usual self.

~Ryou is being a lot more lenient than usual.

~Ichigo is a peeper….

Oh yeah, and don't worry, the other mews will show up in the next chapter c:


	2. Peeping Strawberry

~Chapter 2~

.:Peeping Strawberry:.

Ryou laid awake in his bed after a long day at work. He was staring up at the ceiling, fidgeting. He was so agitated at Keiichiro, and he didn't even know why. "God Keiichiro, Always trying to make me feel bad about Ichigo…. Does he like her or something? Ugh…" He was always so nice to Ichigo, and that irritated him even more. He wanted to punch something, hard. "WHY DOES THIS EVEN MATTER!" He pulled on his blonde locks of hair and sat straight up in bed, kicking his warm blankets off of him lanky body. "I shouldn't even waste this much time worrying about that baka-girl…" He sighed and pulled his long legs up to his chest and smacked his forehead. "Ichigo…" He muttered quietly.

It was a bright sunny, summer day in Japan. Most people would be enjoying this weather, but Ichigo Momomiya was not very happy, at all. In fact she was quite exhausted from sprinting the past few blocks just to make it to Café Mew Mew on time. She stopped and bent over to catch her breath "I am not *pant* Dealing *pant* with the *pant* Devil *pant* today," She staggered onward, Up to the doors of the Café. She pushed them open and breathed "I MADE IT ON TIME! HA!" the other mews were looking at her quite strangely though. "WHAT!" She spat.

"Ichigo, you look like you just jumped out of a sewer" Mint said twirling her blue-black hair.

"No no no, She looks like The Grudge girl!" Pudding chimed in. Mint gave pudding a look.

"Seriously Ichigo, you should go shower or something, that's nasty" Mint pinched her nose. Ichigo walked over to a mirror in the café, and when she saw her reflection she squealed.

"EWWWWW what happened to me! I can't let anyone see me like this!" Ichigo was soaked in sweat, her hair was a wretch, I think she forgot a sock too…. She pulled her shirt over her head to hide her face. "What am I supposed to do…." She said, her voice muffled by her shirt.

"Go. Take. A. Shower! Are you deaf!" Mint yelled, agitated. Ichigo thought for a moment, she remembered when she walked in on Ryou right after he took a shower, there had to be a shower in his room, Right? She peeped her eyes out of the top of her shirt and ran over to the staircase and dashed upstairs to Ryou's room. She beat her small fists on the door.

"SHIROGANE! YOU HAVE TO LET ME IN! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!" She continued beating on the door with no answer. "WELL I'M COMING IN!" She pushed open the door and walked in Ryou's room. His bed was un-made and the door to his bathroom was closed, she heard the soft noise of the shower going.

She wondered into his room anyway, curiosity overtook her. She peeped around his room and looked at some of his things. He had pictures of his family (which she had seen before) some old textbooks, a cat toy? She giggled quietly… She remembered how Ryou could change into his cat form, Alto. She remembered how he saved her from that vicious dog once, when she was transformed as well. Then she remembered…. The kiss. She blushed deeply. She knew the kiss was just to transform her back into a human, but she still blushed nonetheless. But her blushing was interrupted by the bathroom door opening. "OH SHOOT!" She whisper-screamed, as her cat-like instincts took over and she dove under Ryou's bed. Ichigo peeked at Ryou walking out of the bathroom. He had a towel wrapped around his lower half of course, but my goodness… She blushed deeply again. His body was sparkling with tiny little droplets of water from the shower, she gawked at his perfectly defined muscles and abs as he towel dried his golden-blonde hair.

_WHAT THE! WHAT AM I DOING!_ Ichigo thought to herself, smacking her own forehead. Ryou heard the smack, he looked aroung the room cautiously. Ichigo's cat ears and tail popped out, she luckly grabbed her bell before it could make much noise.

"Hello?" Ryou asked aloud. He walked slowly over to the bed. _SHIT! IF HE FINDS ME HE'S GONNA THINK I'M THE WORLDS BIGGEST PERVERT! _Ryou got closer… and closer._ No no no! _Ichigo covered her eyes, leaving a small peek hole between her fingers. Then she met those ocean-like beautiful eyes of Ryou Shirogane… She blushed madly.

"ICHIGO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM! AND PEEPING AT ME!"

"I WAS NOT PEEPING!"

"UH HUH, YEAH RIGHT! LOOK AT YOU! YOU'RE UNDER MY BED FOR GOD SAKES!"

"I UH… UHH. I NEEDED TO USE YOUR SHOWER! BECAUSE IT WAS REALLY HOT OUTSIDE AND I RAN ALL THE WAY HERE AND I GOT ALL SWEATY AND STUFF AND STUPID MINT MADE FUN OF ME AND SAID I LOOKED LIKE A SEWER OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT THEN I CAME IN HERE TO ASK YOU AND YOU WEREN'T HERE BUT THEN YOU OPENED THE DOOR TO YOU BATHROOM AND I GOT REALLY SCARED AND I SAW YOU HALF NAKED AND STUFF AND-" Ichigo blushed madly.

"My god you can give someone a headache, come out from under there, Ichigo" Ryou said coldly. Ichigo crawled out from under his bed, her bell on the end of her tail tingling. She couldn't even look up at him, but she knew he was looking right at her. She slowly looked up at him, and for a second there she couldn't recognize the look he was giving her.

"You can take a shower if you need to, just don't mention this to Keiichiro or the other mews or they might get the wrong idea…" He said, then he smacked himself in the forehead.

"You've got my word on that one… trust me" Ichigo blushed madly. Then she let her gaze drift over his perfectly sculpted body again. One drop of water slid from his neck… down his chest… down his abs, and for a second Ichigo could feel her finger pulling away from her, pulling to him, wanting to touch that shiny droplet of water.

"Like what you see?" He murmured before pulling a T-shirt on.

"NO! I WASN'T… I COULDN'T" Ichigo stared at him, wide eyed. Then she remembered her beloved Masaya…

"Look Ichigo, If you're going to use my shower than just go ahead and use it, Okay?" Ryou snapped. "Unless you wish to stick around and watch me dress, peeper,"

"I'M NOT A PEEPER!" Ichigo screetched

"Mhmm…. Yeah, whatever, I'm getting dressed now so you better get to it" Ichigo rushed into Ryou's bathroom and shut the door quickly. "What are you thinking Ichigo…" She muttered to herself. She locked the lock to Ryou's bathroom door and peeled her damp clothes off. She then stepped into his shower and turned the water on… She really hoped he wouldn't mind if she used a bit of his shampoo, and conditioner. She didn't know he conditioned his hair, interesting. That's probably why his hair is such a shiny gold color. She smacked herself. "Stop it Ichigo! This is Ryou! The devil you hate! The one who is nothing but a plain out jerk to you!" She sighed "…But he did let me use his shower…"

Ichigo finished washing herself and stepped out of the shower and dried herself off with a towel. She wrapped the towel around herself, then realized. "SHOOT! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO! MY MEW UNIFORM IS ALL THE WAY DOWNSTAIRS IN THE LOCKER ROOM" She realllly didn't want to put her sweaty clothes back on. She unlocked the door to the bathroom.

"Hey um Ryou if you're there, uh…. Could you leave?" She thought if she ran really fast she could make it to the locker room without anyone seeing. She opened the door to the bathroom, and there sitting atop Ryou's now newly made bed was Ichigo's uniform and a small note. She picked it up and read.

-There is a room for laundry at the end of the hall, you can take your dirty clothes back there, also baka: you owe me some serious over time for this –Ryou

NEXT CHAPTER:

~Awkward day at work

~Everyone knows there's something up with Ichigo and Ryou

~Masaya shows up -_-


	3. Awkward

~Chapter 3~

.:Awkward:.

Ichigo walked down the stairs of the café slowly, trying to think of something to tell the other mews if they asked her how she got cleaned up so quickly, _Ugh, this isn't going to be good. _Ichigo remembered what Ryou said to her… about keeping the whole thing secret._ Oh well, I guess I'll think of something_ she thought as she ran a slim hand through her slightly damp strawberry hair and continued down the smooth stairs in to the kitchen of Café Mew Mew.

"Ichigo, where have you been?" Mint demanded, holding a tray of food, obviously quite agitated at the fact that she herself had been put to work.

"I cleaned up, like you _told_ me to!" Ichigo spat back.

"And how exactly did you do that?"

"Ummmm- I went home!" Mint eyed Ichigo suspiciously.

"Hmph whatever" Mint shoved the tray of food into Ichigo's chest "Table four is waiting for their orders"

"Aye Aye captain" Ichigo muttered sarcastically before heading out of the kitchen. _Mint is always so demanding, ugh. She's almost as bad as Ryou! _She blushed as the thoughts of Ryou shirtless slipped back into her head. "If he wasn't such a jerk he would probably be quite attractive," Ichigo muttered again, quietly.

"What was that, baka?" A light haired high-schooler said, smirking at her. Ichigo blushed madly, covered her mouth with one of her hands (While still balancing the tray against her) , and scuttled off.

"Ichigo, you IDIOT! You can't think of other men when you have Masaya to think about!" she blushed even more madly as she brought the orders to their correct table.

Ryou watched Ichigo quietly, thinking to himself _She thinks that I'm attractive…. _Then he shook the thought out of his mind "Yeah! Who wouldn't?" he still blushed a little nonetheless. He looked away from the bouncy, petite redhead and walked off into the kitchen, where Keiichiro was baking a few small cakes. Keiichiro looked up at him.

"You seem… flustered…" He exclaimed with a small smile.

"Uh…. It's just, uh… Well I'm just surprised baka strawberry is actually working hard today!" Ryou snapped back.

"She always works hard… and yet you are still so incredibly hard on her…" Keii's smile grew bigger.

"WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU SUGGESTING KEIICHIRO?"

"Heh heh heh, whatever you wish of it Ryou-kun… You are turning such a deep shade of red, it is actually pretty amusing. I've never seen you like this!"

"You aren't funny, Keiichiro,"

"Why don't you ask her out on a date?" Keiichiro grinned so wide that he looked a bit like a mad-man.

"YOU AREN'T FUNNY!" Ryou yelled at him, turning even darker red. _Shit, get a hold of yourself Ryou. "_I don't like her, Keiichiro. She's a slacker, she's obnoxious, and not to mention a complete baka…"

"You're still red,"

"IT'S ONLY BECAUSE YOU ARE ANNOYING ME!"

"Mhmm… yeah, well unfortunately you have some competition" Keiichiro pointed out of the kitchen at Masaya, who was talking to a blushing Ichigo. Ryou stormed out of the kitchen and stomped his way over to Ichigo.

"BAKA! I DON'T PAY YOU TO SIT AROUND AND CHIT CHAT! GET BACK TO WORK!" Ryou glared at Masaya.

"I guess I'll see you later Ichigo-chan, Take care!" Masaya eyed Ryou suspiciously and walked out of the café.

"Hmph, didn't even purchase anything either cheap-"

"RYOU WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO MEAN?"

"I'm not being mean, I'm being perfectly reasonable!"

"NUH UHH!"

"What is with you too? You're at each other a lot more than usual," Ichigo and Ryou glanced over at Zakuro, sitting at a table in the corner of the café, a broom leaned against the table. "Not that I don't enjoy this, it's quite entertaining"

"There's nothing 'with' us" Ryou snapped at her, coldly. Ichigo thought for a second about what Zakuro said, Ryou was acting quite strangely lately. "I'm just tired of baka strawberry slacking off,"

"I AM NOT SLACKING OFF! I AM THE ONLY ONE AROUND HERE WHO WORKS ANYWAY!" Ichigo yelled as she stamped her foot. Many curious customers were now looking at them. Ryou's ears stung from Ichigo's frequent squeals, _What am I going to do with this baka?_

_"_Ichigo, come with me…NOW!" Ryou pointed her into the kitchen. Ichigo crossed her arms, stuck her small nose in the air and followed him. "Keiichiro, could you step out for a moment?" Ryou leaned against the sink, hands in pockets, flipping his blonde hair out of his eyes. Ichigo stood a few feet away from him, tapping her feet impatiently.

"What!" She spat.

"Are you just _trying_ to embarrass the hell out of me?" Ryou walked over to her. "You're screaming at the top of your little lungs out there, scaring the piss out of the poor customers out there!" He bent down and placed a slim hand under her chin, lifting her head up to look at him. "You… You… uh.." Ryou lost his trail of thought... Ichigo's big dark eyes were beginning to water. "Ichigo…. Don't cry…"

"All you ever do is just yell at me Shirogane…" She jerked her head away from his hands and wiped her watering eyes. Ryou felt a sudden pang of guilt… He really wasn't trying to make her cry. He walked over to her slowly "Please go away," Ichigo sniffled and turned away from him. She suddenly felt her body beind surrounded by Ryou's long strong arms, and pulled tightly against him, from behind. Ichigo wanted to push him away for a moment… but his embrace was surprisingly calming…and very warm. He smelled of sweet lavender and soap. They stood like that for a bit before Ryou finally let go and spun Ichigo around to face him, his aqua-blue eyes gleaming with concern and guilt.

"I really hate seeing girls cry….," Ryou said quietly, looking at his feet. Ichigo was too stunned to say even a single word. Ryou shifted his feel uncomfortably. He opened his mouth to say something before he heard a small giggle issue from the door of the room. Pudding was standing at the door, covering her mouth to stifle her giggles.

"Ryou-san and Ichigo-chan are very cute together, Na no da!" Pudding piped loudly.

"GET OUT!" Ryou and Ichigo both yelled at the small orange mew. Pudding skipped away, giggling uncontrollably, As the blonde man and redheaded girl smacked their hands on their heads in an embarrassed way.

NEXT CHAPTER:

~Café Mew Mew hosts a small party

~The Aliens Kisshu, Taru, and Pai decide to crash the party

~Pudding and Taru-Taru join together to start off a crazy night full of pranks and fun


	4. Mew Mew Party! Part one

~Chapter 3~

.:Mew Mew Party!:.

(Part One)

Café Mew Mew was decorated head to toe in multicolored streamers and balloons. The lights were dimmed and the room was dancing with multi-colored lights. Dance music was playing loudly and all of the Mew Mew's were dancing. No one really knew why exactly they were throwing a party, but Keiichiro said that they all really needed a break from working so hard all summer.

"This party is so awesome na no da!" Pudding exclaimed beaming.

"It really is!" replied Lettuce. The other mews nodded in agreement and continued dancing. Ichigo, who was dressed in a pink shirt with a short dark skirt and knee high socks did a small twirl, her skirt fluttering around her like an umbrella. Ichigo smiled at her friends.

"It's really too bad that Masaya couldn't come though, Ichigo" Lettuce said to her friend.

"PFFFTT! Masaya is so boring!" Pudding spat at them, remembering Ichigo and Ryou hugging earlier that week. She giggled at the thought of Ryou being Ichigo's boyfriend.

"He is NOT!" Ichigo crossed her arms and glared down at a still giggling pudding.

"Is too! All he says is like 'blahblahblah nature' or 'blahblahblah save earth go green'," Pudding snorted. "He is NO fun at all!"

"Then who would you view as fun, Pudding?" Ichigo frowned down at her.

"Taru-Taru was always a lot of fun," Pudding snickered "Or maybe Shirogane" Pudding laughed madly and rolled all over the floor. Ichigo, being the only one who understood what exactly pudding was hinting at turned bright red.

"SHIROGANE! PFFT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" Ichigo yelled.

"You like him, Ichigo-chan!"

"I DO NOT! I like Masaya…,"

"THEN WHY DID YOU HUG HIM YESTERDAY! Hmm?" The other quiet mews look over at Ichigo curiously.

"You hugged SHIROGANE!" Mint squealed, raising a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"I did not! Pudding is lying!" Ichigo yelled, turning as red as her strawberry hair.

"AM NOT! I SAW YOU TWO IN THE KITCHEN! HE HUGGED YOU! AND YOU SEEMED TO BE ENJOYING IT! NA NO DA!" Pudding growled and tackled the petite strawberry headed girl to the ground and they both starting wrestling, screaming at each other. Mint grabbed onto Ichigo's slender leg and tried to pull her off Pudding, only to result in a hard bite from pudding. Mint yelled in pain and joined in the tussle. Their fight began to draw quite a crowd, and a certain blonde, blue eyed man pushed through the crowd and yelled really loud at them.

"WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU ALL DOING!" Everyone went silent. Anger very present in his voice.

"PUDDING STARTED IT!" Ichigo and Mint yelled in unison. Mint rubbed her now red arm where she had been bit hard.

"Hmph! You all are NO fun at all! I'm leaving!" Pudding stomped to the front door of the café, turned around to stick her tongue out at all of the gawking people, before turning around and slamming the door hard, shaking the café's walls.

Pudding strolled down the sidewalk outside of Café Mew Mew for awhile before sitting down on a bench. "No one is fun anymore…" She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly. A few tears slipped down her rosy cheeks and fell to the pavement.

"Pudding-chan?" said a child-like voice. Pudding looked up and saw her best alien friend, levitating with his small legs crossed with a concerned look on his small face.

"Taru-Taru!" Pudding exclaimed, a wide grin opening across her face. "I've missed you so much, na no da!" She jumped off of the bench, and grabbed Taruto and gave him a tight hug in mid-air, Taru lost his balance and they both fell to the ground giggling and blushing deeply.

"You gotta quit calling me that!" Taruto scowled before his expression changing to concerned again. "Why are you sad, Pudding-chan?"

"The other Mew Mews are being mean to me…" Pudding said softly, crossing her arms across her chest. Taruto looked over her strangely and then he grinned widely.

"You wanna go get them back!" Taruto beamed.

"FOR SURE! NA NO DA!' Pudding smiled before grabbing Taruto again, and giving him another tight hug. "You always know just how to cheer Pudding up, Taru-Taru! You're the best friend I've ever had!" Taruto blushed and scratched his long alien ear, embarrassed.

"…Anything to make Pudding-chan smile again," He blushed again before pulling Pudding to her feet. "Now let's go! We will get them all really good!" Taruto flew up into the air, pulling a giggly Pudding with him.

They flew into an open window of Café Mew Mew and settled down onto an extravagant chandelier hanging by a thick chain. They were both small enough to sit comfortably inside the chandelier, and peep over the side without anyone noticing them.

"Alright… now what should we do?" Taruto asked.

"I have JUST the idea," Pudding said to him, winking.

Meanwhile, Ichigo continued to dance with the other mews and secretly feeling a little guilty for upsetting Pudding, _All because of stupid Ryou! WHY DID HE HAVE TO HUG ME!_ Ichigo shook her head in frustration and looked down to the ground. She decided to go outside for some fresh air.

She walked outside and sat on the front steps of Café Mew Mew, she re-did her high pigtails and looked up at the sky. It sure was a pretty night out. All of the stars were glistening in the night sky, making it sparkle.

She wished all nights were like this one. She stayed outside for quite awhile before stretching her arms above her head, standing up, and deciding to go back inside. She turned around and before she could walk back inside, the door to the Café slammed shut. "What the…?" Ichigo questioned softly, cocking her head to the side and looking at the door suspiciously. She then saw two sets of heads pop up in the door, sticking their tongues out.

"PUDDING! TARUTO! YOU BETTER OPEN THIS DOOR UP RIGHT NOW!" She yelled at them, now knowing that they had locked her out. Pudding and Taruto laughed at her and disappeared away from the door. Ichigo ran up to the door and beat on it. "HELLO! Hellooooo! Someone open this door up right now!"

She yelled and yelled, but no one noticed her or heard her, the music was much too loud. Ichigo sat down, frustrated "When I get my hands on pudding… I swear to god" Then an idea popped into her head, the back door of the café was probably unlocked! She stood up and ran around back, and grabbed onto the back door, twisting the knob. It opened, and Ichigo walked right in. The back door lead into the kitchen, and Ryou was leaning against the counter-top, drinking some punch.

"Baka? What are you doing?" Ryou looked at her strangely.

"Pudding and Taruto locked me out… So I had to walk around back to get in,"

"Taruto? What the hell is he doing here?"

"I don't even know" Ichigo sighed. "I'm going to get a bottle of water," She groaned, before heading over to the pantry. Ichigo opened the door to the pantry and walked inside, bending down to pull a bottled water out of the case of water bottles sitting in the corner of the small room, before she heard a crash and a bang outside.

"PUDDING! TARUTO! LET GO OF ME!" Ryou yelled, before Pudding wacked him over the head with a fry pan. It didn't quite knock him out, just made him kinda go all derpy for a moment. Pudding and Taruto dragged Ryou over to the pantry, threw him in with Ichigo, and locked them in together, before pushing a large table across the door, barricading it just in case.

"Shirogane! What the hell!" Ichigo yelled as she heard a small giggle outside.

"Have fun in there Ichigo! Na no da!"

NEXT ½ of CHAPTER:

~Ryou and Ichigo are trapped in the pantry closet for quite awhile

~Other aliens show up


	5. Mew Mew Party! Part two

~Chapter 4~

.:Mew Mew Party!:.

(Part Two)

"PUDDING!" Ichigo screamed at the top of her lungs, beating her small fists on the locked door to the pantry "YOU BETTER OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!" She beat on the door some more, but no one answered. Ichigo quit beating the door and sat down leaning against the door. Ryou gurgled a bit. _Dang, Pudding must've hit him hard! _Ichigo scooted over to Ryou. He was laying face down on the pantry floor, and it looked like a bit of a knot was forming on the back of his head. Ichigo poked his shoulder cautiously. "Shirogane, Are you okay?"

"W-What h-happened?" Ryou moaned, and rubbed the back of his head.

"Pudding and Taruto locked us in the pantry… and hit you on the back of the head with a skillet," Ryou gurgled again. Ichigo sighed and flipped him over and looked him in his half closed, aqua-blue eyes. Ichigo poked him again, and he looked at her sideways. She held up 3 fingers in front of his head "Shirogane, How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three?" He gurgled.

"Well I guess you're okay then.. Now get up and bust the door down," Ichigo said. (LOL. She isn't very considerate is she?)

"W-What?" Ryou sat up and rubbed his temples with his pointer fingers. Ichigo sighed.

"Well, drastic times call for drastic measures I guess" She muttered to herself as she pulled out her water bottle, unscrewed the top, and poured all of the water out on Ryou's head.

"WAAAAHHH!" Ryou jerked up sharply and glared at Ichigo "What the hell Ichigo?"

"Ahem… I saiiiiid GET UP AND BUST THE DOOR DOWN!" Ichigo yelled

"Pffftt… I'm not going to bust the damn door down Ichigo, They'll let us out eventually"

"B-but-but… I DON'T WANNA BE STUCK IN HERE WITH YOU!"

"Tough, that's what you get for pouring water all over my head, baka," Ryou ran his hand through his damp blonde hair and felt the knot on the back of his head. "Jeez, she really hit me hard didn't she?" He looked over at the petite strawberry haired girl who was sitting with her arms crossed, pouting. "Wait a minute, what the- How did I get involved in you and Monkey's cat-fight?"

"Because Pudding knows I hate you," Ichigo huffed. Ryou laughed.

"Are you sure it isn't because she saw us hugging, and she thinks you like me"

"WHAT!? NO. Why would she think that? I don't like you, I freaking hate you! That's why she did this,"

"Well you know, this isn't quite a walk in the park for me either, baka," Ryou folded his arms across his chest. "This damp shirt is starting to get annoying," Ryou pulled his damp shirt over his head and set it down beside him.

"Ewwwwww! Ryou put your freaking shirt back on!" Ichigo covered her eyes.

"Hahaha, weren't you the one who snuck in my room and peeped on me while I was undressed?" Ryou smirked at Ichigo.

"You know I was only in there because I needed to shower…" Ichigo looked away from him, blushing.

"Hahahaha, You should've seen your face when you were looking at me Ichigo, You obviously liked what you saw. You almost touched my stomach," Ryou laughed at her again.

Ichigo covered her red face with her small hands and muttered a quiet "Shut up… Shirogane,"

"Awwww, is baka-strawberry embarrassed?" Ryou teased and he rolled over to flick her on the nose. For a second him and her made eye contact. Ichigo's big dark eyes and Ryou's piercing aqua eyes. They looked into each others eyes intently, and each of them saw a look in one anothers eyes that they haven't seen before.

Ichigo let her gaze go downward. She looked Ryou's half smirk (which she never sees often) and down more to his perfectly toned body, just like earlier in the week, glistening with tiny droplets of water. Ichigo sucked in a bit of air, getting butterflies just from looking him over. Ryou noticed her looking at his body again, he opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, but closed it, and just continued looking at her. Ichigo could feel his eyes on her and she knew that he had seen her. Ichigo turned bright red and looked away.

"Ichigo…"

"DON'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING SHIROGANE!"

Ryou laughed softly and shifted closer to her. He moved a strand of strawberry away from Ichigo's ear, and blew on it. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and her cat ears and tail popped out.

"SHIROGANE! NYAAA!" She scooted away from him, red as a strawberry. Ryou laughed, he loved teasing her. Ichigo's stomach was a swarm of butterflies. He laughed again.

"You like?" He smirked.

"NO. I DO NOT LIKE AT ALL!" She criss-crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air.

"Pfft, good. That's what you get for dumping water on me, As a matter of fact…" Ryou laughed and pulled out another water bottle from the package, un-screwed the top, and poured it all over Ichigo.

"NYAAAAA!" Ichigo jumped up in the air. Ryou laughed madly. She glared at him. "That is not funny, AT ALL! " The strawberry-headed mew looked down at her pink dress. The material was so thin that when it got wet her lacy bra showed through. Ichigo covered her chest with her arms. "EEEPPPP! SHIROGANE!"

"Oh god…" Ryou looked away from Ichigo. He didn't see much, but he didn't want to.

"SHIROGANE! YOU PERVERT! HENTAIIII!" Ichigo squealed.

"Pfft! You think I'd honestly do that on purpose? You're the one who does the peeping, not me'"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, I AM NOT A PEEPER!" Ichigo yelled throwing her arms in the air and stomping her foot, Giving Ryou pretty much a clear view of everthing. For just a second, Ryou's eyes widened; looking at her partially "exposed" chest. Ryou got butterflies and then looked away blushing.

"Ichigo… You're uhh" He blushed even deeper.

"NYYYAAAA!" She squealed, embarrassed . She wrapped her arms around herself. Ryou sighed.

"Baka… Here, I mean if It's really going to be such an issue," He handed her his shirt, which had dried quite a bit. She took it and put it on.

"Thanks, Shirogane…" She mumbled. Ryou looked her over. She did look awfully adorable in his shirt. It was much too big on her, it was even longer than her black skirt that she was wearing. "What are you smiling for?!"

"My clothes make you look good!" Ryou winked and laughed. Ichigo glared at him, but she wasn't about to take his shirt off anytime soon

. "Anyway, I know a way to get us out of here…." Ichigo looked at Ryou suspiciously. Ryou walked over to the corner of the pantry and kicked open a vent that was a few feet above the floor. Then he walked over to Ichigo, who was sitting on the floor. He crouched down beside her, put his hand under her chin to lift her up to face him. The side of his lip curled up into a half smile as Ichigo's cheeks began to shade a bit pink. Ichigo darted her eyes between Ryou's approaching lips and his piercing aqua-blue eyes. Ryou pulled her closer and closer gently. Her eyelashes fluttering and her stomach tossing and turning, and then their lips touched and they both transformed into cats.

NEXT CHAPTER:

~Pudding is in for it

~Kisshu and Pai pick up Taru-Taru

~Everyone is wondering…. How exactly did Ichigo and Ryou escape?


	6. The Escape

~Chapter 5~

.:The Escape:.

"Heh heh heh, we sure got them good Pudding-chan!" Taruto said with a wide grin on his face. He held up a small hand to gesture a high-five and Pudding clapped her hand against his happily. They both were sitting behind Café Mew Mew watching the starlit sky and listening to the crickets. They were having a merry ol' time before a pair of cat claws sunk into Puddings back.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Pudding leaped up into the air, yelling, and tried to pry the black cat with a bell on it's tail of her back. Taruto jumped up and hovered over to the flailing monkey-girl and grabbed the cat and pulled with all of his might, the cat didn't move an inch.

"Mew mew mew mew mew!" Taruto turned around and saw a small lavender cat, looking as if he was yelling something at the other black cat. The black cat hissed loudly, the purple one squeaked out a loud "MEEEOOOWWW" and then disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"What the- The Café boy?!" Taruto yelled "And the black cat is pudding's friend! Hmmmm how did they get out," He scratched his ear.

"I DON'T CARE HOW THEY GOT OUT JUST GET ICHIGO OFF ME!" Pudding screamed madly, still running around in circled.

"Pudding damn it! Stay still," A blond cat boy said. Pudding stood very still for a moment and Ryou walked over to her and bent down to look at Ichigo. He put each of his hands on the sides of her furry head and pulled the black cat into a kiss.

"What the hell! THIS IS GETTING REALLY WEIRD!" Taruto yelled with a freaked out look on his face. The black cat disappeared off puddings back and there stood Ichigo, grabbing handfuls of Pudding's shirt.

"RYOU! I ALMOST HAD HER YOU YOU… GRRRR!" Ichigo let go of Pudding's shirt and lunged towards Ryou, who dodged her attack, resulting in her getting a nice mouthful of dirt.

"Oww… Ichigo that hurt really bad," Pudding rubbed her back. Ichigo picked her head out of the dirt and threw a mean look at Pudding.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR LOCKING ME IN THE CLOSET WITH FREAKING SHIROGANE! I SHOULD RIP YOU FACE OFF! OR WORSE! RIP YOUR TAIL OFF! I'M GOING TO FREAKING KILL YOU PUDDING-"

"Jesus Christ, calm down Ichigo. I think you all are pretty much even, now wipe your face off, Baka," Shirogane smirked down at the strawberry-headed girls dirt coated face. Ichigo stood up and wiped the dirt off of her face. Taruto started laughing madly.

"I SHOULD JUST KILL YOU TOO TARUTO! YOU HAD AN EQUAL PART IN THIS! COME HERE!" Ichigo lunged towards Taruto and grabbed onto him while he was still levitating and started swinging at him. Then two people tugged her off. (Kisshu and Pai, if you're confused)

"Hello my little kitten," Said a green haired alien. Kisshu was holding Ichigo bridal style.

"Ew Kisshu, get your filthy pervert hands off me!" Ichigo kicked her legs into his chest and did a backwards flip and landed onto the ground.

"What, my love? No welcome back kiss for me?"

"Kisshu, I'd rather jump off a bridge into a pit of hungry sharks than kiss you,"

"Oh feisty, that's just how I like em,"

"My god, Kisshu, leave the poor girl alone…" Pai said calmly, leaning against a lone tree.

"One of these days you will realize my love for you, kitten… but for now I'll just wait, I WILL WAIT FOR YOU! I LOVE YOU!" Kisshu fell down to his knees in front of a freaked out Ichigo.

"Dude Kisshu shut up, You're my buddy and all, but Jesus you're embarrassing all of us," Taruto piped in. Kisshu grabbed onto Ichigo's ankles.

"Ew Kisshu, get off of me!" Ichigo yelled, trying to kick Kisshu's hands away. It was unfortunate that he had a bit of a death grip going on. Ryou walked over to Kisshu and kicked his skinny arms, Not hard, just to let him know that it was time for him to let go. (LOL He's got a lot more desperate than he was previously)

"Get off of Ichigo, Kisshu," Ryou said calmly.

"YOU, YOU! ARE YOU TRYING TO TAKE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AWAY! ," Kisshu yelled madly, his eyes turning red with hate. Everyone else stood around the three, all had big eyes.

"Oh god, here we go again…" Pai said quietly, shaking his head.

"He really needs a new hobby, na no da!" Pudding looked over to Taruto, who was too embarrassed at Kisshu's behavior to even respond. He hit his palm against his face.

"NO ONE WILL EVER TAKE MY BELOVED ICHIGO AWAY! SHE'S MINE! I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU LOVE HER! SHE IS MINE FOREVER! MINE! AND IF I HAVE TO FIGHT YOU FOR HER…. I WILL! I WILL KILL YOU!" Kisshu let go of Ichigo's ankles and stood up to face Ryou. The blond laughed madly.

"I don't even like baka-strawberry, quite frankly I dislike her, I'm only trying to get you off of her for your sake, Kisshu. You are embarrassing yourself and all of you little alien-freaks of friends, Now would you please… Leave Ichigo alone,"

"Defending her now I see, No one will keep my love away from me, whether you like her or not, now will you fight me for her?" Kisshu looked up into Ryou's eyes, giving him an evil glare.

"Pfft, I will fight your pathetic little alien self, and I will beat you, and when I do, do you promise to leave poor Ichigo alone and the rest of us? You're really starting to give me a damn headache Kish,"

"Alright then! The fight is on! I will prepare the battle in another dimension, I will seize you my love!" Kish looked into Ichigo's eyes and stepped closer to her "Kitten, will you give me a kiss for good luck?"

"Over my dead body, get the hell away from me!" Ichigo pushed Kisshu away.

NEXT CHAPTER:

~Ryou and Kish fight for Ichigo.

~Unexpected things happen for everyone

(I think the next few chapters will make the story a little more deeper , it will still have its jokes though!)


	7. Kish vs Ryou

~Chapter 6~

.:Kish vs. Ryou:.

_~Kisshu and the rest of his gang teleported into another dimension to prepare for "The Battle for Ichigo," -sigh- (Kish is so dramatic) Pudding went back into the Café, seeing it as a good opportunity to sneak away from Ichigo. Pudding informed the other mews about the battle that was about to go on and they are all going to cheer on Ryou in the chance that he would defeat Kisshu and Ichigo will be able to live a happy normal life. They also phoned in Masaya to let him know what's going on, But who cares about Masaya anyway? Alright. Back to the story….. _

"I still can't believe I'm agreeing to do this, This is such a waste of my time," Ryou was leaning against a wall on the backside of Café Mew Mew, waiting for Kish to finish the uh… Preparations? Ichigo was standing beside him with a worried look on her face. Ryou looked over at her and sighed. "I will win, Ichigo you don't need to worry,"

"I do have to worry, Ryou. I mean, Kisshu really does love me, I guess… Maybe 'Insane stalker obsession' would be a better name for it, but-" Ichigo sighed again. "He is very determined. He will never give up till' he gets me. I'm going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life,"

"We will see about that, Strawberry," Ryou patted her on the back gently, which made her blush a little bit. "And yeah, 'Insane stalker obsession' is a really better name for it, I don't think Kish even understands what love really is, for our sake I hope he gets the fuck over this insanity and quits acting like an animal in heat every single time he sees you… baka. He's even more of a baka than you are"

"HEY! If I'm such a baka, Why are you trying so hard to help me then? Huh?" Ichigo put her hands on her hips and tapped her shoe against the ground.

"To be completely honest Ichigo, you really aren't that bad. Sure, a strawberry-headed baka, But…. I do like you, Ichigo. As a friend I mean," Ryou scratched his head and blushed a little, surprised by his own words.

"I like you too…AS FRIENDS! You know…" Ichigo blushed too and looked at Ryou. He was looking away from her at the full, chalky, white moon in the sky, They really had been out here a long long time. "So, Ryou, since we're _friends_ and all… Are you going to start being easier on me at work?"

"Yeah, I will be, the day you ACTUALLY start working," Ryou smirked at her, Ichigo simply shook her head and sank against the back of the wall to sit down, but then a small alien teleported in front of her.

"Uh hey, Cat girl and boy," Taruto (Taruto? Tart? Ugh I don't know, But I'll just say Taruto.) sighed a little bit, not very excited about his next few words. "Um, Kish prepared the battle or whatever, So I'll teleport you all there, I guess…. Is Pudding around?"

_~Taruto got pudding, and the other mews + Ryou and a Keiichiro and teleported to the alternate dimension that Kisshu had made for them to battle on. _

There wasn't anything too special about the room where Ryou and Kisshu would fight. The sky was full off deep green clouds, all swirling around, almost as if it were about to storm. In the center of the area there was a circular type standing area with tall rocky walls surrounding it.

"Pfft, he isn't very creative is he? This is so 48th episode," Ichigo said to the other mews, who shook their heads. A green haired alien appeared a few feet above them, cackled, and flew down to Ichigo and glared into her eyes.

"Except this time, I'm actually going to be able to fight, my dear. Your stupid Masaya was a cheater and ruined my plans, this time I'm going to have you for real, my kitten," Kisshu winked at Ichigo and she laughed loudly and put her hands on her hips.

"You'll never have me Kish, and if I remember correctly, my _stupid_ Masaya kicked your ass and blew up the entire piece of shit dimension you put together,"

"We'll see what happens this time Ichigo, by the end of today you are going to be mine. YOU will be my little toy," Kisshu smiled evilly down at her and a chill went up her spine. "Where is your Masaya now Ichigo? Hahaha, It seems that he isn't here, what a shame-" Ryou stepped forward and cut Kisshu off.

"I'm here for Ichigo, Filthy perverted alien, and so are the rest of the mews, you are never going to have her Kish, so let's get this over with," The blonde haired cat-boy cracked his knuckles and half smiled at Ichigo, who grinned in return.

"Hmph, well I assume you brought a weapon?" Kisshu asked.

"Not that I couldn't break your skinny ass in half with my bare hands, but yes, I brought a weapon," Ryou yawned in a disinterested way and scratched his head. Kisshu squinted his eyes in an annoyed way and snickered.

"Aren't you even the tiniest bit nervous, that the girl you have a crush on could end up in the wrong hands?" Kisshu laughed again.

"I don't have a crush on her," Ryou looked away from him and folded his arms across his chest, If he wasn't looking away from everyone, you might have noticed that his cheeks were a bit rosy.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter, she doesn't like you anyway, the only one she likes is that damn Masaya,"

"I don't give a shit who she likes, Kisshu, she's still my friend and colleague and I'm going to protect her from your disgusting self," Ryou turned around and glared at an irritated looking Kisshu. No one could press Ryou Shirogane's buttons.

"Fine then, lets fight" Kisshu stood on his side of the circular area where they would fight and Ryou on his right. Zakuro walked over and handed Ryou his weapon, which was a large sword with strange markings on it. Kisshu pulled out his usual two daggers.

"Don't even think about pulling that stupid electricity bullshit with me Kisshu. I'm really not in the mood for it," Ryou muttered quietly, he held his sword in his hands and glared at Kish, hovering a few dozen feet away from him. He looked to his side at Ichigo, who was watching him intently, he smiled at her and she smiled back. Ichigo mouthed a 'Good luck' to him and gave him a thumbs up, Pudding cheered and threw her arms in the air, Lettuce smiled and blushed and gave him a thumbs up as well, Zakuro and Mint grinned at him as well. _I have to win this for Ichigo, I have to._

Kisshu yelled at the top of his lungs and lunged toward Ryou, Kisshu's red eyes gleaming. Ryou dodged out of his way and turned around, and Kisshus daggers came crashing down onto Ryou. The blonde blocked them with his sword and the two clashed weapons for a while, moving all around the area. Then suddenly Kisshu managed to knock Ryou's sword out of his hands, but lost a dagger in the mix. _Shit_ Ryou thought and grabbed Kish by his arms, as Kisshu struggled to stab Ryou.

Ryou heard Ichigo gasp, smiled a little, and threw Kish across the room at a wall. The long eared alien yelped and fell to the ground, Ryou used this chance to go grab his other sword. Kisshu growled and jumped to his feet and ran to Ryou, their weapons clashing. Both of them began to get cuts and bruises, and Ryou realized that he really did underestimate Kish. He really was a good fighter. That didn't mean that he was going to let him win though. He had his entire team counting on him. He had to do this.

Ryou ran and jumped in the air (This is where his catlike reflexes came in handy!). He flew towards Kish almost in slow motion and as he slammed his sword down, he knocked both of Kisshu's daggers out of his hands. Ryou kicked them out of the way and put his sword under Kish's neck. The aliens eyes were wide with disbelief. He had lost. He had embarrassed himself. He looked down at the rocky ground and sighed. Ryou lowered his gleaming sword.

"WOOOOP! GO RYOU!" Pudding cheered and jumped around, flailing her small arms in the air.

"YEAAAHHHHH!" Lettuce squeaked and pumped her fist.

"Great job, Ryou!" Mint grinned.

"Awesome," Zakuro smiled one of her rare smiles.

Ichigo was smiling wider than she ever had, she ran over to Ryou, her strawberry locks floating behind her, and gave him a hug. As awkward as Ryou felt by the hug, he was very proud. "Thank you, Ryou," Kish felt like his heart shattered into a million pieces when he heard those words. A black tear slid down the dark aliens face in the shadows. No one noticed though, Then Kisshu teleported off. Taruto looked at his friend and sighed to himself. He did truly feel sorry for his friend. Tart did believe that all of this was for the best though.

"No problem Ichigo," Ryou let go of her and scratched the back of his neck. "You're definitely working for free after this, Baka," He smirked at her as her jaw dropped. "I'm just kidding,"

"We'd better get you back to the Café, you are bleeding an awful lot," Ichigo said to the blonde as the other mews crowded around them.

NEXT CHAPTER:

~The mews go back home to the Café, they had been up for almost 24 hours, and they all believed that it was about time to rest

~More Tart x Pudding c:

I really hope you all liked the sorta crappy fight scene. I figured that no one really wanted to read some extremely long and in depth fight, You all want Ryou and Ichigo! I'll give you lots of that next chapter though. I still gotta figure out what to do with Masaya. If anyone has a good idea, Let me know! If I like your idea I just might use it and give ya' a shout-out. I really appreciate all of the reviews that I've got on this as well. I never would have imagined that so many people would actually read this o.o

Anyway, thank you all


	8. The break up

.:Chapter 7:.

~The break up~

_Soon Ichigo and the rest of the Mew Mew team got back to the Café, and Ryou got patched up. Everyone decided to crash at the Café for the night, but Ichigo wanted to stop by her home and get a few things. No one wanted Ichigo to walk to her house alone at night, and everyone said Ryou or Keiichiro should come with her to 'protect' her. Ichigo insisted that they not. She is a Mew Mew after all, she can handle herself. So she began her walk home in the moonlight. _

"Hmph, to think that I can't walk a measly 20 minutes home without getting into trouble, I mean I spend my days battling crazy monsters and stalker freak aliens, What is it on the streets that is worse than that?" Ichigo sighed and continued on her way home, kicking a stray can off the sidewalk. She soon got to her house and opened the door quietly and stepped inside, before she heard someone call her name behind her.

"Ichigo? Ichigo? Is that you?" It was Masaya's voice.

"Masaya, Uh, yeah it's me, what are you doing out so late?"

"I've just been uh, walking around, it's good to get a fresh breath of air once and awhile. I've been worried about you, Ichigo,"

"I'm sorry. I've been awfully busy saving earth and whatnot. We've done some of the craziest things lately! I can't wait to tell you all about it!" Ichigo beamed down at him, but Masaya's expression turned grim. "Um, what's wrong?"

"Ichigo…. I just, why do you do what you do? I mean, the world is saved. I mean from the aliens I mean. They're done. Sure, every now and then the aliens show up and try to cause chaos, but it isn't nearly as threatening as it used to be. I mean, hell, you started when you were 13 right? It's been almost three years Ichigo. Isn't this getting tiring?"

"What exactly are you getting at, I'm confused,"

"Our world is suffering each and every single day from the damage that we do to it, not the aliens. I've realized this now. We are just sucking the life out of our planet. We take and take, and take some more, but we never give back,"

"You're starting to sound like Kisshu,"

"What I'm getting at is that your job that you do isn't that important anymore, Ichigo. There is so much more for us to do and fix. You're just going to have to face it. The Mew Project just isn't important anymore,"

"How in the hell is my job not important? Every single day I rescue people from the dangerous Chimera Animals, and the aliens evil doings. It isn't just Kisshu and his gang anymore, Masaya. It's much larger than that. More and more of Kisshu's kind come down here and continue to try to win earth back, trying to destroy us all, and my team and I were put on this planet to fight this chaos. This is our planet, our home. We aren't going to let anyone take this from us. The Mew Project is one of the most important things to exist for the human race," A few tears slid down Ichigo's smooth cheeks. "I can't believe that you think what I do is all for nothing,"

"Ichigo…. I'm sorry. I just-" Masaya stepped closer to her. "I can't do this anymore,"

"Can't do what anymore? What in the hell are you saying?" She wimpered "I love you…. Are you saying that… I mean that can't be, this doesn't make sense"

"Ichigo, what you're doing is wrong for this planet! We are selfish! All we're going to do is kill this planet one day, and we're not going to have anywhere to go or turn! We are all going to suffer and die if we don't do something!"

"What are you going to try to do then,"

"I've got a job,"

"What kind of job?"

"It's work for the Cyniclons,"

"WHAT?!" Ichigo jumped back away from him, her eyes wide and searching.

"Ichigo, I want you to come with me,"

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE? AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH? WHAT HAPPENED TO SAVING OUR PLANET, HUH? IT WAS YOU WHO GAVE EVERYONE HOPE, MASAYA. YOU SAID WE COULD CHANGE IT IF WE TRIED!" A few sparkling tears slid down Ichigo's now red face. Her arms trembled by her sides as she glared into his eyes.

"The end is inevitable, Ichigo" Masaya whispered.

"So you're saving your own pathetic ass? Is that it? GIVING UP ON YOUR OWN PEOPLE?!" Ichigo spat loudly. "YOU GAVE EVERYONE HOPE! AND NOW ALL YOU'RE DOING IS TAKING IT AWAY!"

"I can't do this Ichigo," Masaya turned to walk away, but she grabbed his arm tightly, as petite as she was, she was strong.

"DON'T FUCKING WALK AWAY FROM ME!" Ichigo was angry, but there was a prickle of desperation in her voice. Masaya turned and glared at her.

"Get off of me, Ichigo,"

"NO! I WON'T LET GO OF YOU MASAYA! I LOVE YOU, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Ichigo pulled on his arm tighter. He yanked his arm free and stomped close to Ichigo, backing her up against her front door. She closed her eyes and turned away, his face was just inches away from hers.

"You don't love me, Ichigo. Fucking think for a second, how much time have you even put into me in the past few months? Yo—"

"You know that I've been busy-" She whimpered.

"DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING INTERUPPT ME, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR LIES ANYMORE. I know what you've been up to, Ichigo. Hanging out with those boys all of the time…,"

"WHAT!? ARE YOU JOKING? YOU KNOW RYOU AND KEIICHIRO, THEY'RE GOOD GUYS, MASAYA, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD EVEN THINK THAT ANY OF THIS IS TRUE,"

"Ichigo, be completely honest with me, and if you lie to me once I swear I'll know," Masaya pushed up against her harder, a bead of sweat sliding down his temple. Ichigo whimpered and looked at him. "Do you care for either one of those pigs?"

"What?! OF CORSE I CARE FOR THEM!" Ichigo tried to push him away from her.

"You know what I mean, Ichigo. Do you have feelings for them?"

"N-No.,"

"Bullshit," He put his hand under her chin and turned her toward him. "That's why you were getting all touchy feely with the blonde one, Ryou, I believe,"

"What?! I've only hugged him twice! The first time was only because I was crying and he felt bad for me, the second was because of the battle! There's nothing between me and Ryou! He's just my friend!"

"You're a liar, Ichigo, to me and to yourself. You're so naïve, I can't believe I wasted all of this time with you…" He let go of her and she slid down the door and hugged her legs tightly against her. "Enjoy living on a dying planet, You can't do anything, Ichigo" Then a blonde headed cat-boy (with a slight limp) walked up behind Masaya.

"What the fuck is going on here? Ichigo, are you okay?" Ryou looked over at Ichigo, who nodded slowly; She was trembling terribly. Ryou jerked his attention over to Masaya, he grabbed him hard by his shirt and growled "What did you do to her…"

"I didn't do anything to her, get the fuck off of me," Masaya tried to push Ryou off but he didn't loosen his grip a single bit.

"Yeah, that's why she's sitting over there shaking and crying," Ryou pulled on him tighter "I should beat you senseless,"

"We were fighting, but only because that stupid bitch has been lying to me for the past 4 years," Masaya struggled to pull away from him, panicking.

"I don't care even if Ichigo beat your fucking mother to death with a baseball bat. You never put your fucking hands on her, now you're going to have to answer to me, and to be quite honest, Masaya. You are the one who's been deceitful to her for the past 4 years. You aren't who we thought you were, You are a disappointment and a pathetic waste of time, and an embarrassment to the entire human race-" Ryou was cut off by a hard hit to the mouth, which knocked him to the ground. His vision went red and he couldn't get up, still weak from the other fights. Masaya was about ready to hit him again before some certain green-headed aliens dagger was placed across his neck, the metal cool against his skin, yet pulsing with electricity.

"I may not like Ryou very much, but I just so happened to fly by and hear the things you were saying to kitten," Kish put more pressure against Masaya's neck.

"Kish! DON'T KILL HIM!" Ichigo cried.

"I'm not going to kill him, that's no fun, but I might as well play around with him for a bit," Kish grinned madly and looked again at Masaya. Kisshu suddenly began to burst out in laughter. "You are such a fool to believe that my kind would even welcome you, you stupid stupid child, hahahahhahaha you are not even welcome with your own kind anymore," Kisshu threw Masaya to the ground who clung to his neck and gasped for air, he looked at Ichigo. She stood and walked over to Kisshu.

"Thank you, Kish…" She mumbled quietly. He smiled at her and wiped a tear off of her cheek. "Do you think Ryou is okay?"

"He should be alright," Kish crouched down and looked him over, he poked him with the handle of his dagger.

"Kish?" Ryou gurgled "Is that you?"

"Mhmmm, and the girl you have a crush on too!" Kish said with a teasing tone. Suddenly, a bunch of footsteps sounded. A petite blonde girl and Taruto peeped around the corner of Ichigo's house. Pudding ran over to the group and examined everyone.

"Taru-Taru told me that something bad was happening to Ichigo! SO I CAME AS SOON AS I CAN!" Pudding looked down at Masaya, who was starting to stand back up, and she pulled out a random fry pan and beat him over the head with it.

"Welp, I guess that solves the problem…" A now half conscious Ryou said "Glad it wasn't me this time," Pudding laughed nervously and held the pan behind her back. Taruto hovered over beside Pudding and she smiled up at him and he blushed as red as a cherry. Kisshu shook his head and looked down at his feet.

"I don't even know who's side I'm on anymore…" Kisshu sighed "We should be heading back Tart, we'll take Masaya with us and…. " Kisshu laughed evilly "We'll do something strange to him while he's knocked out (Not in a perverted way, haha), tata kitten" Kisshu slung Masaya over his back.

"Hey can I come!?" Pudding squeaked.

"Sure, my dear, let's go have some fun," Kisshu laughed and they all flew away, Pudding in Taruto's arms.

Ichigo crouched down and pulled Ryou up and looked at him. His eyes were still rolling around, but he was coming back to her, slowly.

"Ichigo…." He raised an arm up and rubbed the left side of his head where he was struck. "God damn it,"

"Thank you, Ryou, for helping me with everything" Ichigo let go of him, because he was able to stay up on his own.

"It's starting to become a problem," He snickered and looked at her and smiled "You're alright, aren't you?"

"Peachy, hey wait a minute… How did you know to come here," Ichigo cocked her head to the side and looked at him questionably.

"Well, you're such a baka and all, I didn't want you to end up getting hurt out here all alone" He grinned and laughed.

"I TOLD YOU ALL! I CAN HANDLE MYSELF!" Ichigo folded her arms around her chest, then she sighed "I guess It is a good thing you showed up though,"

"Where in the hell did Kisshu come from?"

"I dunno, I never really thought he would entirely give up on the whole freaky stalker stuff, so I guess that's why… But it was a good thing he did!" Ichigo smiled "Maybe he isn't that bad of a guy.

"I wouldn't go that far Ichigo, don't fuel his fire" Ryou stood up. "Have you got your stuff yet?"

"Actually. No" Ichigo stood up as well.

"Typical strawberry baka, You need help?"

"Sure…"

Ichigo went inside her house and switched on the lights in her kitchen. The tiles on the floor were very clean and shiny, and the whole house smelled of sweet cherry blossoms and was very tidy. Ryou kicked his shoes off with Ichigo and they both walked in.

"Nice place," Ryou said, looking around at everything. "Where are your parents?"

"Business trip, and thanks… Probably nothing you're used to. You're filthy freaking rich. My entire house is probably the size of your bathroom,"

"About," Ryou smirked.

"Well my room is upstairs, wanna see? It's super cute!" Ichigo ran up the stairs quickly and switched on the lights to her room and threw her arms in the air and yelled "Tada!"

"Jesus Christ, how much pink do you need in one room! Once again, typical strawberry baka…" Ryou smiled. Ichigo opened her closet to get an overnight bag and a bunch of random linens fell down on her head. "Just as I thought, this room was suspiciously clean," Ryou snickered and looked down at Ichigo. She was sitting down inside a pile of clothes, and had a bra on her head, then Ryou bursted out laughing.

"Shut up," Ichigo stood up and picked the bra off of her head and threw it back into the closet and pulled a bag out and threw it on the bed. Then she began stuffing her clothes back into her closet, and Ryou surprisingly started to help. When they got to the last item on the floor they both picked it up at the same time, Ryou's large gentle hand touched Ichigo's delicate soft hand, they both blushed madly and looked away from each other.

"Cmon' baka, hurry up and pack," Ryou scratched the back of his head "We should be getting back before the others start to worry,"

NEXT CHAPTER:

~Electricity goes out at the Café!

~You find out what the aliens did to Masaya, LOL.

Yayayay. Hope you liked the extra long chapter, and thank you TopazDragon98 for giving me a good idea. She wasn't exactly kidnapped, but Ryou did save her! n.n


	9. Mew Mew Sleepover

~Chapter 8~

.:Mew Mew Sleepover!:.

_Ichigo and Ryou got back to the Café very late, And all of the other Mews had already fell asleep. Ichigo and Ryou went to sleep too. All of the Mews slept through most of the next day (They'd been up for a couple days) and woke up late in the afternoon. It was dark outside when they all awoke to a fresh meal being prepared by Keiichiro._

Ichigo stretched her slender arms above her head and yawned. _Jeez, we all must've slept for awhile. _She scratched a strawberry lock and staggered off to the kitchen. Pudding was in the kitchen with Keiichiro making some soup and noodles for everyone. The sweet smell of their cooking filled Ichigo's nose, It had been awhile since she was able to eat.

"SURPRISE!" An excited blonde girl squeaked. Pudding got a spoonful of the soup and walked carefully over to Ichigo and held it up to her. "Try it Ichigo! Na no da!" Ichigo bowed her strawberry head and took a slurp of the spoonful of soup.

"Wow! This is really really good Pudding-chan! You've got a lot better!" Ichigo patted Pudding on the head and looked over to Keiichiro, who was smiling warmly at her.

"It could use a bit of salt however, Ichigo, If you could run down to the supply closet?" Keiichiro said in his polite, caring voice.

"Oh, no problem!" Ichigo walked out of the kitchen and down the hallway to the basement, where the supply closet was. She switched on the lights and walked in, towers of boxes of supplies surrounding her. "Hmmmm… Salt, where is the salt...," She read over many of the boxes before she found a small box that said salt on the side. The box had many different mini salt jugs in it. Ichigo grunted and tried to pick up the box, but it was too heavy. "Hmph, they always send me to do the dirty work!"

"Talking to yourself, baka?" Ryou cooed in a teasing voice, making Ichigo jump sharply, hitting her head on a shelf.

"OUCH! God damnit, Shirogane! You scared me," Ichigo rubbed her head and glared at the blonde. He snickered and walked closer to her.

"My apologies, You really do need those few brain cells you have left," Ryou laughed and rubbed Ichigo's head. "No really, I'm sorry,"

"Gah, it's ok… Hey quit that!" Ryou rubbing her head was beginning to trigger Ichigo's cat instincts. Ryou, knowing this, kept scratching her gently. Ichigo's cat ears and tail popped out, a soft jingle issuing from her bell. Ryou placed his other hand on her back, and scratched as well, a low purr issued from Ichigo's throat. "S-Stop it," Ichigo struggled to spit out, Ryou only pressed on.

"Ichigo," Ryou laughed, and scratched harder. Ichigo nuzzled Ryou's soft arm and walked forward and rubbed against his chest, like a cat, purring madly. Ryou stopped and looked down on her, she still pressed against his warm chest and his cheeks turned a bit red.

"ACK! Oh, uh, sorry!" Ichigo backed off and folded her arms and looked down at her feet.

"It's alright, only cat instincts after all," Ryou replied coldy. He turned to leave before Ichigo grabbed his arm.

"Hey wait! Could you help me carry the salt upstairs?" Ichigo looked up at him and smiled a little bit.

"Typical baka, sure,"

_After Ryou and Ichigo went upstairs, and gave Keiichiro and Pudding the salt. They both went back into the small T.V. room in the Café where the other Mews were, and they all watched a bit of T.V. together. Ryou was a bit more quiet than usual, and made a point to sit on the opposite side of the room as Ichigo. Soon Pudding marched in and told them dinner was ready and they all went and sat at a few circle tables in Café Mew Mew._

"This is sooo good!" Ichigo exclaimed happily. Taking another spoonful of her soup and slurping it.

"It is, you will have to get me the recipe, Keiichiro," Zakuro said coolly, Politely taking another sip of her hot green tea. Keiichiro smiled warmly at her and they talked a bit about the recipe and whatnot, a jealous looking Mint glaring at Keiichiro.

"THIS IS THE BEST!" Ichigo held her spoon high in the air and grinned really wide, and continued to slurp down her soup like a mad-man.

"Ichigo, jesus, Don't just hork it down like that," the silent blonde finally said. Ichigo glared at the blonde boy, and took an absurdly large slurp of her soup. Everyone continued to eat their meals quietly, Pudding chattering a little bit. Soon they finished and carried their used plates and silverware to the sink and rinsed them.

"Hey, we should definitely watch a movie!" Pudding squeaked and giggled a little "A scarrrry one,"

"Yeah, Pudding we all know how well that goes over with Strawberry-Baka over there," Ryou said to Pudding, giving the terrified looking Red-head a look.

"NO MORE SCARY MOVIES! ARGH! PLEASE DON'T" Ichigo yelled loudly, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Awwww man, but we have all of the Scream movies, plus some chainsaw massacre…." Pudding sighed and hung her head, pouting.

"Pudding, are you even old enough to be watching those movies?" Lettuce asked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her index finger.

"Psssh, I'm not a wuss!" Pudding laughed. "Cmon, let's go into Ryou's room, he has a huuuge T.V. in there!" the blonde monkey girl zoomed off. Ryou shrugged and walked in the same direction as the youngest mew. Everyone followed except for Ichigo. She stood there shaking.

"Ack! I can't do this!" Ichigo yelled loadly, pulling at her strawberry pigtails, "SHE KNOWS I HATE SCARY MOVIES! WHY DO THEY HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME! WAAAHHHH!"

"Ichigo, jesus, You don't have to watch it you know-" Ichigo squealed at the top of her lungs, Making the blonde headed boy (Who magically popped up) jump sharply.

"AHHHHH RYOU YOU SCARED ME! YOU CAN'T JUST POP OUT OF NO WHERE LIKE THAT!" Ichigo was shaking like a mad-man. Ryou sighed and looked at her.

"You almost make me feel sorry for you….. Do you want to come with me to town to get some popcorn and stuff? I was going to go alone but-" Ryou was cut off by a warm hug. Ichigo squeezed him tightly.

"Plllleeeeassseeee take me with you! I can't stand this scary stuff," Ryou tried to shake her off, but she was bound to him by a death grip.

"Yes, you can go baka, but only if you please let go for five seconds," Ryou's voice was muffled in her hair, but she gradually loosened her grip and took a couple steps away from him. She looked at the ground and blushed; embarrassed.

"Sorry, um… let's go,"

_The two headed out into the town in the dark, crickets chirping, the crisp night air filling their lungs with every breath they took. They walked onward down the sidewalk by the park, lightning bugs were lighting up the grassy fields and the sweet smell of freshly trimmed grass filled their nostrils. _

"It's a really beautiful night out, again," Ichigo took another breath of air and smiled. Ryou just nodded and continued to walk, looking straight forward, and his hands in his jean pockets. Then they stopped in their tracks, they could hardly believe the sight in front of them.

"Oh. My. Fucking. God," Ryou's jaw dropped and Ichigo was too stunned to speak, she covered her mouth and looked away.

There was Masaya, strapped to the top of a street light, completely naked, with duct tape over his mouth. Many people stood around him gawking, mothers were rushing away covering their young ones eyes and some people took out their camera phones and took pictures. He was wiggling and screaming, but only a fait squeal sounded outside of the duct tape.

"I almost feel sorry for him, damn. I'm never underestimating Kish again," Ryou scratched his head, eyes still wide with stun. "Ichigo are you alright?" Ichigo was looking down at the ground with her eyes wide as saucers.

"I-I wish I couldn't have seen…._that_," Ichigo stammered, shaking her head and crinkling her hair with her fists.

"Oh come on, you've never seen him naked before?" Ryou teased, even though there was a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"EW NO! I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYONE LIKE THAT BEFORE! AHHH. MY EYES. PLEASE. LET'S GO GET THE POPCORN AND GO HOME, I CAN'T TAKE THIS!" Ichigo then ran as fast as she could to the grocery store, with Ryou trailing behind her.

After they purchased a few bags of popcorn and some soda they began to make their way home,The awkward silence getting more and more awkward by the minute. Then suddenly, Ichigo shrieked out.

"AHHHH I WANT THAT MEMORY OUT OF MY HEAD! PLEASE INVENT A MEMORY ERASER PLEASE!" Ichigo shook her head and ruffled her hair.

"You're such a baby sometimes, Ichigo," Ryou sighed and they walked up the pastel sidewalk to Café Mew Mew and knocked on the door. A smiling Keiichiro answered.

"Welcome back Ryou and Ichigo," The brunette took a few of their bags and they made their way up the stairs into Ryou's room. Ryou kicked the door open lightly and frowned when he saw Pudding jumping up and down on his bed like a monkey.

"YOU BED IS UBER BOUNCY RYOU!" Pudding giggled and continued to bounce. The force flung a few of his pillows onto the floor. Ryou cringed and looked outside of his room at Ichigo, she was standing there shaking. _She must be thinking about those movies again. _Ryou walked over to her and stood beside her, looking down at her.

"You don't have to watch, baka,"

"I know that! I just… I don't want to feel left out while they do watch it," Ichigo scratched the back of her head and sighed. She looked up at Ryou and he smirked.

"Maybe, I'll stay with you while they watch it,"

"YOU WOULD!? REALLY!? Waiiiit a minute, what's the catch , Ryou? There has to be a catch! You're never just nice to anyone unless you have a reason," She folded her arms across her chest and stuck her nose in the air, knowing exactly what she was going to hear.

"More hours, and you're on dishes," He laughed a little when he said it.

"WHAT!? DISHES!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I'M YOUR MOST VALUBLE WORKER! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITHOUT ME?"

"Well now that I think about it, work will actually be a lot more easy with you on dishes," Ryou winked and flicked her nose "Besides, would you rather sit outside all by yourself… in the dark… with chainsaws and screaming in the background?" Ryou laughed one of his rare laughs.

"Ugh, fine. I really hate you,"

"Whatever you say baka,"

NEXT CHAPTER:

~Lots of Ryou + Ichigo alone time

~Power goes out, hahaha you know Ichigo won't enjoy that.

I'm so so so sorry about the long time to update. Please forgive me? I started school about a month ago and I've been extremely busy. Busy playing team fortress & minecraft that is…. Haha. I really am sorry though. I was having a bit of a mild case of writers block. So my question to you is what would you like to be in this story? Just give me suggestions. n.n

Again, thank you so much for reading my story. Your lovely reviews really boost my confidence and make me want to write more.


	10. A Kiss on Freight Night

~Chapter 9~

.: A Kiss On Freight Night:.

_After a bit, the door was finally closed to Ryou's room, where Pudding insisted that's where they watch it, even though there is a T.V. room right down the hall. They did settle on "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and over the chainsaw noises and screaming, you'd hear the loud whooping of Pudding. She really enjoys this stuff for some reason…_

_Ichigo and Ryou decided to go on ahead to the T.V. room, where everything was made up nicely. The soft pillows were on the couch, blankets were folded neatly inside a wooden chest by the wall, snacks layed out on the tables-Wait a minute? Who took the time to light candles?!_

"What the- Who lit all of these damn candles when no one is in here!" Ryou demanded, blowing out a few candles.

"Yeah! Total fire hazard!" Ichigo blew out a few candles herself. She blew a little too hard on one of the candles and caused fire hot wax to spill all over the top of a wooden table. The first thought in her head was Ryou yelling at her for ruining the table, so she wiped it away quickly, burning her fore-arm in the process. She jerked and jumped and turned away from the oblivious Ryou, who was beginning to babble about something…

"-This doesn't make any sense? Who would take the time to light candles in here? Someone obviously planned all of this; trying to set the _mood _or whatever, these damn stalkers. Who in their right mind would do this—Ichigo what the hell are you doing?" The blonde cocked his head to the side and eyed her curiously. Ichigo jerked around to face him quickly. She held her scolded arm behind her and tried to look normal.

"I-I um…. I-ouch, I'm f-fine…," She stuttered out, her left eye twitching a bit. She then gave a cheesy smile, which made Ryou cringe.

"Ichigo… What did you do? DID YOU PLAN ALL OF THIS? Heh. I knew you had some kind of secret crush on me!" Ryou laughed "Well then again who wouldn't? Even though I could and probably will do better than you I guess we can-" Ryou was cut off by a sharp kick to the groin. He fell over sputtering.

"IDIOT! I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU! QUITE FRANKLY I DON'T EVEN LIKE YOU! DUMBASS! I BURNT MY ARM ON HOT WAX AND I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL YOU BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BITCH AND MOAN AT ME FOR MESSING UP THE TABLE! ARGH HOW DARE YOU! NYAAA~" Ichigo pulled down on the ends of her pigtails and shook her head.

Meanwhile, the other Mews who were watching the movie heard a loud bang and lots of screaming, then a loud cat-like hiss and meow. Zakuro shook her head and looked up at the ceiling.

"Sounds like your genius plan is going realllly smooth, Pudding," Mint said in an annoyed tone. She stuck her nose up in the air.

"Maybe we should go in there and make sure everything is alright…," The green headed Mew requested, scooting her round glasses up the ridge of her nose.

"No. No. NO! You all just wait! This will work, I promise! Just give it some time, Please?" Pudding beamed at them and smiled. The rest of the Mew Mew's nodded their heads and they continued to watch the rest of their movie.

~Back to the T.V. room, Ichigo sat down on the couch and folded her arms across her chest, her nose in the air, and her eyes squinted shut. The injured blonde cat-boy on the floor crawled from all fours up to his feet and waddled over to the other couch, adjacent to where Ichigo sat, and flopped down. He sat their panting, wiping sweat from his brow.

"F-for such a Baka, you really can kick hard…. Gah," He put his hands over his eyes and laid down on the couch.

"Hmph! It's cat instincts!" She stuck her tounge out at him and huffed loudly, waiting for him to say something.

After what seemed like an eternity, without Ryou saying a word, she sighed and gave up. "Ryou, I'm sorry for kicking you in the…. Yeah… It just made me really mad. Are you alright? Do we need to call a doctor? I uh…. Didn't _break_ it did I?"

"I'll be fine. Surprisingly, I've been kicked their many times before by many girls like you, I can take a lot. But damn, you definitely hit me the hardest,"

"I'm sorry. I'm not surprised, either. You really are a dick sometimes,"

"I'm sorry too, for saying all of that dumb crap," Ryou grunted and sat up and looked at her "I do get carried away sometimes, I was being halfway sarcastic…. But I really am sorry. How could I make it up to you?"

"Don't make me do dishes, and you have to lay off at work, too,"

"Pfft, it's one or the other! I can't do both!"

"I'll do the dishes. Just, lay off, Ok?'

"I will" Ryou stood up and headed for the door.

"Wait! Shirogane!" Ichigo stood up and looked at him. "That doesn't mean that I want you to go…. Please don't. As stupid as this sounds I really will be scared without you here. Please stay here, with me?" She looked down at her feet and shifted her weight from side to side, and turning a bit red.

"Sure, I'll stay. It's no problem… I just thought you wanted me to get out," Ryou walked over to her, and picked up her injured arm gently, and examined it. "I have some aloe gel in the bathroom for burns and things like that, If you come with me, I'll uh… yeah I'll help out or whatever,"

"Sure, where is the bathroom?"

"It's actually right outside this room, it's a spare bathroom, but it has a lot of cabinet space. I use it to store first-aid stuff like that, come on, follow me," Ryou and Ichigo walked out of the room and across the soft carpeted hallway to the spare bathroom, where Ryou flicked the lights on with his finger. He walked over to a cabinet and dug around for a little while before pulling out a little container full of aloe gel. "Here, Uh, hold your arm out…" The redhead held her arm out, as Ryou put a few dabs of the green sticky liquid onto her arm, rubbing it in softly. She watched him in awe at how gentle and caring his touch seemed to be; when in reality it seems that they just have an un-ending feud.

Ryou breathed in a shaking breath. Why did he feel so funny? This is strawberry-baka! Why was he getting tingles all over? He felt like there were tiny ants crawling through his veins. He looked up into her deep chocolate eyes and saw something so different than what he normally saw her eyes. He saw, what was that, Care? Admiration, almost? It made him feel like the greatest person alive.

His piercing aqua eyes dug deep past Ichigo's eves and those aqua beams made their way through her head, travelling through every corner and crevice in her brain, making her feel woozy. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as Ryou shifted a little closer to her, the aqua beams making their way down her neck, and dancing throughout her entire core.

He pulled closer to her, breathing in her sweet strawberry scent which made his butterflies grow even more dense, the swarm inside his body getting more and more intense. He felt his hands go numb, and he opened his mouth and breathed out a silent moan of pure desire.

He wanted her strawberry lips. He needed her sweetness. His body ached for it.

She wanted him closer, closer, curious as to where exactly his soft, moist, lips were going. She raised a small, delicate hand and put it around his neck softly, pulling him closer to her, he smelled of lavender and chocolate. She pulled him closer.

He felt the light pressure of Ichigo's pull for him. Yes, she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. He went slowly though, trying to savor every last bit of her sweet scent. That deep look in her eyes giving him goose bumps all over. He was inches away, from her sweet strawberry kiss. He went slowly though. Slowly.

She could now feel his warm puffs of breath floating softly into her body, prickling every single hair on her staright up. She wanted this so badly. She had never felt anything quite like this before. She let out a small whimper as she felt his larger, stronger hands grasp the back of her neck, pulling her in.

He twisted his fingers in her soft strawberry locks of hair and pulled her closer and closer, he couldn't wait any longer. He would burst into a swarm of butterflies.

Their lips met, so softly and so innocently. His eyes fluttered shut, hers remained open in awe at how perfect their lips fit. Like puzzle pieces. It was a perfect kiss. Ichigo wrapped her arms around him and pulled his body closer to hers. She wanted to be as close to him as possible. He smiled a little into their kiss and twisted her soft hair in one hand, he reached with his other to her shoulder and pulled her in. wanting more and more.

Their kiss heatened, as he twisted another lock of her hair and pulled her even closer, not as gently as the first. She pulled him closer as well, and kissed back harshly as well. They kissed each other, more and more harshly until finally they broke apart, taking deep breaths of air.

Ichigo closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Ryou leaned against the wall and panted.

What exactly had they just done?

Ichigo opened her eyes and looked at him, and he looked at her. She blushed the darkest shade of red possible and looked down at the floor quickly. He looked her over and smiled a small smile…

"Wow… that was…. Oh my god. It was amazing, you are amazing" He stuttered out. He ran his hand through his now slightly damp blonde hair and took in another deep breath of air.

Ichigo felt like her entire body was on fire; her cheeks the worst. He had called her amazing, a compliment she never expected to ever hear out of his lips. Her rival, her arch nemesis, her villain, said that their kiss was amazing. Ichigo could hardly see straight.

"We should go back to the T.V. room, if the other girls come and try to find us and see that we're not in there they'll think we're up to something and probably get all weird, Lets go," Ryou said quietly, motioning for her to walk to the T.V. room.

They both snuck across the soft carpeted hallway once again. They opened the door to the T.V. room with a creak and walked in quietly. Not a sound was made.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something? I'm sure we can find something that we both like… Or whatever you like, I guess. It uh- doesn't really matter to me," Ryou looked at the still blushing Ichigo and smiled a little bit. She was absolutely adorable…

"Why don't we just watch something… happy. Maybe you could turn it on a cartoon channel?" Ichigo finally managed to pipe out. Her body still buzzed from Ryou's touch. He just nodded and picked up the remote. He flicked through the channels 'till he found the first cartoon channel. The blonde exhales, tossed the remote to the right and watched that cartoons quietly.

Then suddenly, the lights flickered out.

NEXT CHAPTER:

~The Haunted Café Mew Mew!

Please tell me what you thought about the kissing scene. I didn't want to get too dirty, but I see them as teenagers, So I didn't feel like they would be all fluffy and cute like Pudding and Taruto.

Thanks for reviewing. I love you all c:

x


	11. A Confession

~Chapter 10~

.:A Haunted Café Mew Mew:.

_Pudding, Zakuro,Mint, and Lettuce sat in Ryou's room quiety, watching people getting chainsawed and whatnot. Suddenly…. the lights flickered out and they heard a loud squeal from down the hall. The other Mews jumped at the sound and looked over at Pudding, who was laughing histerically._

"Alright," Pudding managed to spit out between a cackle "This could be a very good sign, or a very bad sign,"

"PUDDING?!" Mint squealed " How do you even know about-Never mind, I don't want to know, let's go see what's going on," They opened the door to Ryou's room slowly, the high pitched squeak echoing throughout the hallway.

"D-Do w-we have a f-flashlight or something," Lettuce whispered, shaking madly.

"Come on you wuss, we fight mutant aliens and you're afraid of the dark?" Pudding laughed again, before a hand clamped her mouth shut tightly.

"Stop messing around. There could be something seriously wrong with her, come on," Zakuro let go of the monkey-girls mouth and the Mew Mew's made their way down the long dark hallway.

"This is super creepy! Na-no-da!" Pudding squeaked in a scared little voice.

_Meanwhile, in the T.V. room…._

"OHMYGOD! AHHHH WHO TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF!" Ichigo yelled loudly, feeling the wall for a light switch.

"Ichigo! Shut up for five minutes and keep feeling for the switch damnit… Only I get stuck with the baka in situations like this!" Ryou was feeling along the wall, too.

"AHHHHH SOMETHING FURRY JUST TOUCHED MY LEG! HELLLLLPPPPPP!" Ichigo scrambled across the room to where she thought Ryou was and knocked pretty much everything down in her path. There was crashes and scratched all around her, till she finally tumbled over top of something and landed on top of Ryou. "AHHHHH WHY IS THE GROUND SO WARMMM!"

"It's me you idiot, get off of me!" Ryou yelled. He was blushing deeply but Ichigo couldn't see that. She yelped in embarrassment and rolled off of him.

"W-w-what are we going to do, Shirogane?" She sighed and her eyes began to water. She was really afraid of the dark. She began to sniffle and turned away from Ryou.

"Hey, Ichigo… Don't cry…" Ryou felt around on the ground till he found her warm body. He put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it softly. He sighed and said "It'll be okay… I'm sure the power will come back on soon," Ichigo sighed again.

"B-but… what if it doesn't?"

"I'm not going to go anywhere… so uh- you don't have to be scared,"

"You promise?"

"I promise," Ryou sat up beside Ichigo and bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Ichigo gasped and he turned away. "S-sorry…. Just… you're such a baka sometimes" Ichigo smiled and sat up and hugged Ryou really tightly. His jaw dropped and he wrapped his shaking arms around her, breathing in her strawberry scent.

"You know…I'm glad that I have a friend like you, Ryou…" Ichigo smiled and hugged him tighter, making him blush deeply.

"I am too- B-but… Don't let that go to your head!"

"Hehehe! You're actually kind of cute when you try to sound tough,"

"I'M NOT TRYING TO SOUND TOUGH,"

"Awww…. Ryou is cute! Ryou is cute! Ryou is cute! Ryou is cute~" Ichigo sang happily, giggling.

"SHUT UP! BAKA!"

"Oh gosh you're so cute!"

"QUIT TEASING ME!" Ryou yelled loudly. Then suddenly, the room was lighted with a flashlight.

"WE FOUNDD YOUUU! Na no da!" Pudding ran in happily and gasped, seeing the two embracing. They both blushed deeply and struggled to separate away from each other. "Well well well… I see my plan has worked" Pudding grinned and folded her arms across her chest.

"WHAT PLAN!" Ichigo and Ryou yelled in unison.

"The plan to get you two together," Pudding giggled.

"WE AREN'T TOGETHER MONKEY!"Ryou screamed

"YEAH!" Ichigo yelled "WHY WOULD WE EVER BE TOGETHER?!"

"Wellllll, you all were just holding each other all blushy and stuff, and I do believe I heard someone screaming 'oh gosh you're so cute"

"Umm…" Ichigo turned red and covered her face, Ryou just looked away and folded his arms across his chest.

"Hehehe, I knewwww it!" Pudding started to jump up and down "RYOU AND ICHIGO SITTING IN A TREE!" She cackled loudly "K-I-S-S-I-N-G! FIRST COME LOVE!"

"STOP!" Ichigo and Ryou yelled in unison.

"THEN COMES MARRIGE!"

"NO!"

"THEN COMES THE BABY IN A BABY CARRIGE!"

"UGH! MONKEY! YOU PERVERT!"

"What is going on in here," The rest of the Mews walked in "Oh my…" Lettuce said quietly. She saw Ryou and Ichigo sitting on the floor pretty close to each other, and understanding Puddings joke she turned a bit red in jealousy.

"Heh heh heh, as you can see…. My planned worked! I just walked in on these too having a lovey dovey moment, holding each other! Oh so cute~! The victory!" Pudding giggled and jumped around, and Ichigo and Ryou sweat dropped.

"Hmmm, I guess you're right Pudding…. We should just leave them then… leave the flashlight though," Mint said, giggling.

"Awh okay…. Fine… Have fun you all!" Pudding handed Ichigo the flashlight, winked, and skipped out of the room shutting the door behind her.

"Well, that was awkward," Ichigo sputtered, in an annoyed tone.

"Yup, pretty much…" Ryou replied, laying down on his back on the ground. Ichigo sighed and looked at him in the eyes.

"Ryou… Do you, D-do you…" Ichigo blushed madly and looked down at her hands.

"Spit it out baka…." He grumbled.

"Do you…" Ichigo raised her head up and looked at Ryou in his aqua blue eyes "Do you like me. Like you know…. Like like me, for real?" She blushed at her own question. Ryou turned red and just stared at her for what seemed like forever.

"Ichigo… I, I…" He blushed deeply. Every part of him urged him to say no, except his heart. Ryou could not bear to see Ichigo hurt by his words. Why did he suddenly care so much? Why is talking to her suddenly so difficult now? He began to shake a little and sat up to look her in her chocolate brown eyes. "Ichigo, I've always liked you… as much of a baka as you are, You are a…. You're really pretty Ichigo. You're pretty crazy sometimes, but you never fail to make me smile. I tease you a lot because I was jealous of Masaya, and I've always liked you," Ryou sighed and looked at her again "When I kissed you, I realized that it was time to quit playing these stupid games and just be honest with you for once… or else…. Or else I might end up losing you,"

"Ryou, you really mean that?"

"I promise…"

"I uh…. I've always liked you a little too. I kinda looked up to you, too. I wanted to be smart and independent like you. That never really seemed to happen though,"

"You are smart,"

"What? I thought I was a baka…"

"I'm just teasing you when I say that. You aren't a baka at all. Sometimes you don't think things through, but that doesn't mean you're a baka. Do you really think that a 'baka' would be the leader of the team of individuals that would save the world from destruction?"

"I-I guess not,"

"You know not. You inspired those girls through the thick and the thin to stay with you; To stay and save the planet. You are a true leader Ichigo, even more so than I am. I admire that about you, Strawberry."

"Ryou-Stop," Ichigo's eyes began to water and she started to sniffle. Ryou just shifted closer to her and looked her in the eyes.

"I do admire you. More than anyone than I've ever adored anyone before. You are a hero, Ichigo. I hope I can change the planet as you have,"

"Y-You know I couldn't have d-done it without you," She stuttered. He smiled at her and put his hand under her chin and lifted her up to face him. He blushed and brushed a piece of her red hair out of her face, and kissed her gently on the lips, and she kissed back happily. When they pulled away she looked at him in a questioning manner. "Ryou, why do you think I haven't transformed into a cat? We are kissing… I should, shouldn't I?"

"Perhaps it's because I'm not just kissing you, you are kissing me. We're kissing each other, so maybe that's all we had to do,"

"I guess so," She smiled and pulled him into a hug, he hugged her back as well. "I'm glad to have found a friend like you,"

"Me too, Ichigo. Me too,"

_Sorry about the long update, I decided to not make Café Mew Mew too haunted. I just decided it would be best not to drag out the cute Ichigo and Ryou fluff. I just really wanted to type out this scene. I'd just like to say that Ichigo and Ryou's relationship was based off of my own relationship with my boyfriend, Alex. If you're reading this, I'd just like to let you know that I love you. And thank you all of my loyal reviewers that have stayed with this story…. Even though I take forever to update. _

NEXT CHAPTER:

~Ryou asks Ichigo out c:

~They tell the other Mews how they feel about each other c:


	12. The First Date

~Chapter 11~

.: A first Date:.

After the sleepover, Ichigo went home and took a shower and ate a nice lunch. She went in her room for a bit and read a book, before she jumped at the sound of her cell phone ringing. She shut her book and slid off of her bed and had a confused look on her face. Who would possibly need to get a hold of her after that long night? She sighed and grabbed her phone and answered, not looking at the name. She expected it to be Pudding calling to harass her.

"Um, Hello?" Ichigo asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Hi, Ichigo…" It was Ryou. Ichigo suddenly felt like she was on fire; sweating bullets and shaking a little. She combed her bangs out of her face and tried to act normal.

"Oh.. H-Hi Shirogane…" She said awkwardly. Ryou sighed; hearing her call him by the last name wasn't always the best of signs. Ichigo heard that and held the phone away from her face and smacked her forehead.

"I uh…. I have question to ask you,"

"Y-yeah?"

"You want to come to dinner with me tonight? I mean I…. Never got to help you with your burn that you got…. And I wanted to pay you back with dinner,"

"O-Oh," Ichigo could hardly believe her ears. RYOU!? Asking HER out on a date? She thought she hated him… But why on earth was she getting all of these goose bumps? "I'll go,"

"Good, Uh…. How about the Italian place on the corner?"

"T-That sounds good to me,"

"Ok, Good… Is 6 o' clock okay?"

"Y-yeah…. I'll ask my Mom I'm sure it'll be fine,"

"I'll see you then, Ichigo,"

"Bye," Ichigo waited for him to hang up and she flopped on her bed. "Why does he even want to go out with me?" She muttered quietly to herself. She rolled over and looked at her digital clock sitting on her nightstand. It was 3 and she had three hours to get ready. She decided to go ahead and shower.

_To Ryou._

Ryou hung up the phone and cringed a little. He felt like such an idiot. He ran his hand through his blonde hair and shook his head. He couldn't possibly be falling for the baka, now could he? He remembered that kiss, and his stomach turned to jelly.

"Is something the matter?" Keiichiro said quietly, standing in the doorway to Ryou's room.

"I don't even know," Ryou mumbled shaking his head again.

"Is it… Ichigo?" Keii asked, walking in the room and sitting down beside him on his bed. Ryou peeked through his hand and glared at him and Keiichiro chuckled and patted him on the back. "Well, I knew it was bound to happen sometime,"

"What the hell are you saying…."

"That you've always liked her. I know it. You tease her and only her all the time-"

"ONLY BECAUSE SHE'S A COMPLETE MORON!" Ryou yelled, pushing his hand off his back.

"She's not a moron at all. As a matter of fact, she's quite the hard head, just like you,"

"I. Don't. Like. Her,"

"Oh lord, Ryou. Please just be honest with yourself for just once! You do like her. No one just picks on a person as much as you do without having some type of feelings for them. I also see the way you look at her sometimes…. You get a strange little sparkle in your eye,"

"I DO NOT!" Ryou punched Keiichiro in the arm hard and began to walk out of the room. Keiichiro rubbed his arm and stood up.

"I don't mean to offend you Ryou, honest. I'm just saying. Please don't mess this one up. She's got a special place in your heart and both of us know that. Don't pass up an opportunity for you to truly find real happiness," Ryou turned around and looked at Keiichiro in the eyes and sighed.

"I'm scared," he mumbled.

"What?"

"YOU HEARD ME!"

"What could you possibly be scared about?" Keii stared at him for a long moment "Come on, you can tell me,"

"I'm afraid of fucking things up, Okay? She has a perfectly good life and I don't want to get involved and end up hurting her in the long run. She doesn't deserve that, Hell, she doesn't even deserve me. I'm not good enough for her,"

"Ryou," Keiichiro sighed "You are a strong person. I know you've lost so many people you've loved…Your mom, your Dad. What you're truly afraid of is losing her. That's why you're so afraid to try. It's time to let go of everything that happened to you in the past and do something good for yourself. Open up to her, like you've opened up to me. She's a good person, and I know she would never hurt you,"

"I don't know if she even likes me,"

"She does, and the reason why it seems like she doesn't is because she's used to you pushing her away and acting like a complete ass. She's not sure how to feel about you because she doesn't know how you feel about her,"

"I kissed her, Keiichiro,"

"You what!?"

"We kissed last night," Ryou looked at the floor and sighed. Keiichiro looked at him, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"A-and?"

"I don't really know okay? She acted weird when I called her this morning,"

"You… You called her!?"

"Yeah, quit making that face. She's coming with me to dinner at the Italian restaurant,"

"Oh, wow… Well she said yes, so that's definitely a good sign,"

"Yeah, guess so. She was acting weird though,"

"The mean boy, who constantly picks on her, calls her a baka, kisses her and asks her out to dinner, what do you expect?"

"I guess you're right,"

"I am, now get cleaned up before you see her,"

_Back to Ichigo._

Ichigo stepped out of her shower and wrapped her damp hair in a fluffy pink towel. She slipped her robe on and walked to her closet and opened the door. "Bleh, I have no idea what to wear," She dug through her closet, looking at her summery dresses and skirts and found a nice plain white dress with a pink bow on the chest. "Well, I guess the Italian place has to be fancy. So this should do,". Ichigo pulled out a pair of shiny pink mary-jane shoes and some shin high white socks. She pulled off her robe and put her stuff on (With underwear lol) and looked at herself in the mirror.

She was so nervous. She took her hair down and blow dried it. She felt like her hair was missing something so she went to her dresser and pulled out two pink bows and clipped them on. "Perfect," She said. She heard her phone vibrate and she grabbed it and read a message from Ryou, He said he was on his way. "ON HIS WAY?!" Ichigo dashed over to her clock and looked at the time. It was 20 minutes till' six. "OH MY GOD! I JUST CAN'T HAVE A GOOD DAY, NOW CAN I?" Ichigo grabbed a small pink backpack and threw her phone in it and ran out of her room, down the stairs, and to the door.

Ichigo sprinted down the street and turned the corner, she saw the Italian place, right across the busy street. She dashed around some people and pushed the button to cross the street. She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. 5 minutes to go. She panicked and ran across the street dodging cars. People were honking at her and rolling down their windows yelling. She just kept running and she reached the restaurant.

"That was quite the show you put on back there,"

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" Ryou stepped out of her car and shut the door and locked it.

"Typical work of a baka, I guess,"

"Hmph, next time I'll just come here late!"

"Fine, just don't be a moron and run across a busy street," Ryou sighed and Ichigo pouted "C'mon lets go in. Our table should be ready,"

The two walked inside and sat down at their table and looked at the menu's. Ichigo looked around at the place. The place was called "Taste of Italy". It wasn't as fancy as Ichigo thought it was, and she felt like an idiot for over dressing. It was just a normal place, and she goes and dresses like she's going to a wedding. Ichigo hit her head on the table.

"Ichigo? What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm an idiot,"

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm freaking dressed like I'm getting married and this is just a casual restaurant. I know I should have looked it up before I went!"

"I uh-Don't think you look bad," Ryou mumbled and she peeked up at him "I um… think it looks good on you,"

"Really?" Ichigo smiled at him.

"Yeah, you look nice,"

"Thanks," Ichigo looked at him and saw him blushing a little and she blushed too, soon the waiter brought out their complimentary salads and they both ate quietly. "So how's your day been?" Ichigo asked awkwardly.

"It's been alright,"

"Same here," Ichigo took a large bite of her salad before a band of men came up to their table.

"Hello lady and gentleman, table number 4 has sent the Maria Brothers over to play a romantic song for the happy couple,"

"What?!" Ichigo asked blushing

"We aren't a couple!" Ryou yelled, but the band played anyway. The lead singer sang about a first love and a first kiss. Ichigo was blushing madly, so was Ryou. When the song finished they both clapped awkwardly as the band bowed and the lead singer handed Ichigo a rose.

"Enjoy the rest of your meal, Thank you very much" The lead singer said happily, walking off with the rest of the band.

"Fuck,"

"What is it?" Ichigo asked cautiously, expecting Ryou to be extremely angry about the song.

"Well look at the two idiots who are sitting at table number 4,"Ryou pointed to the left and Ichigo shifted to look over in that direction. Sitting at a small booth eating pounds of spaghetti were Pudding and Taruto. The waved at Ryou and Ichigo and made faces at them. Ryou gave them both the finger.

"Idiots," He muttered.

"You've got that right," Ichigo turned back to him and giggled "That was kinda funny though,"

"Yeah, I've had about enough of Monkey's obnoxiousness though. Beating me with the pan, trying to set us up…. That one time when she put glue on my pillow," Ryou took a large bite of his salad and Ichigo blushed, thinking about that kiss again.

_Soon, their food arrived and they ate quietly occasionally speaking to each other. Spaghetti was one of Ichigo's favorite foods, and she scarfed it all down like some wild animal. When they finished eating they both got up and left; Ryou left a nice tip for the Waiter. They walked outside the restaurant and Ryou insisted to drive her home, talking about how bad he would feel if she got ran over tonight. She stuck out her tongue and got in the passenger seat and they drove off. _

"Hmph, how bad you would feel huh? I've got cat reflexes! If a car came my way I'd do a double back-flip and land right on my feet!" She held her nose in the air and huffed at Ryou who laughed.

"Yeah right baka, More like you'd stand there and be an idiot till' the car hit you!"

"No way!"

"Yes way,"

"NO!"

"Ichigo! God damnit! Don't screech like that or we will hit a car and die! Now which way do we drive?"

"Hmph! You go left then right down the road. My house is on the right side, you should remember where it is you know. You're supposed to be a genius and all,"

"Maybe I'll just let you out right now in the dark… where you'd get kidnapped…. And be held captive for ransom,"

"NOOOO! I WAS JUST KIDDING!"

"Ichigo, Jesus Christ you're going to make my ears burst. This is it right here, right?"

"Yeah, hey now that you've got me all freaked out… You have to walk me to my door," Ryou grunted and opened his car door and Ichigo opened hers and got out. They walked up the sidewalk to her house and Ryou grabbed her hand to slow her down. Ichigo turned around and looked at him.

"Um… I just wanted to say thanks for coming tonight,"

"It was fun… Thank you for taking me," They both stood there awkwardly for a moment, her hand is his. Ichigo's stomach began to turn in knots. Ryou gently pulled her towards him and walked slowly towards her, when they met he held her really tight. "Ryou…."

"Shhh for a minute…" Ryou held her even tighter and he could feel her heart beat quicken. He pulled her back a little so he could look down in her brown eyes and her blushy cheeks. He put his hand under her chin and lifted her small face towards him, and he bent down and gave her a small peck on the lips. She blushed madly and looked up at him. He smiled down at her and let go of her.

"Goodnight Ichigo,"

"Night Ryou,"

_So sorry readers, I would have typed this sooner but my laptop was stolen by my sister and held captive for awhile. I would have just typed it on my PC but I already had it halfway done, so I just waited. So sorry again. It might be a little bit before I can type a new chapter, because of Christmas coming up and all of that. I'll try to update before Christmas though. Just depends on how much time I have. To answer a question of someone's, the reason why it takes me so long to update is because I've been extremely distracted yet again with video games and my boyfriend. I am just lazy, and I try to type chapters when I feel like typing. I never want to rush these things. But thanks so much for reading. C:_


End file.
